Apple have officially released iOS 6 and despite the bad press about the Maps app statisics have shown that users have been quicker to upgrade to iOS 6 than they were to upgrade to iOS 5 especially in the first two days of release. IOS 6 has been downloaded and installed in record numbers and at a rate of 122% when compared with iOS 5.
These figures are amazing and we are sure that the likes of Siri for iPad, Facebook integration and Passbook have helped persuade some of those who may have had reservations. One of the apps that have probably prevented more users from upgrading their firmware is likely to be Apple's new Maps offering. Apple in providing their 3D mapping app has really underestimated people's reliability on the native Maps service and if they had of been aware of this the current backlash may have been prevented.
We have spent some time looking at the new iPhone 5 and we have to say that we are very impressed with the new hardware even if the software is taking a bashing. Google's Maps app may not have been exceptional but it did a good job and despite 3D mapping and turn by turn navigation from Apple's new Maps service, we can say that many iDevice users will probably continue to use Google Maps when it comes to a reliable service. That is of course unless Apple put the effort in and create a Maps app that really does work.
The YouTube app that was ditched as a native offering with iOS 6 has been significantly improved and is now even better than ever so we think that most iPhone and iPad users running iOS 6 will be holding out more hope for somethign similar in the mapping department.
Apple has promised that they it will update and improve the Maps offering but we feel that they will have to do this very quickly indeed if they are to convince users that scrapping the old Google Maps was the right decision.
In summary, it is safe to say that Apple are going to be pleased with the high adoption rate that iOS 6 has achieved but there is still a lot of work to be done if this launch is to be as successful as they were hoping.
